Job Description
Associate Director of Leadership & Parent Giving
Job Description
Position Overview
Sarah Lawrence College, now celebrating its centennial, seeks a strategic, relationship-oriented fundraiser to serve as Associate Director of Leadership & Parent Giving. Reporting to the Associate Vice President for Philanthropy, the Associate Director will manage a portfolio of leadership-level donors and parent prospects.
Sarah Lawrence College, now celebrating its centennial, seeks a strategic, relationship-oriented fundraiser to serve as Associate Director of Leadership & Parent Giving. Reporting to the Associate Vice President for Philanthropy, the Associate Director will manage a portfolio of leadership-level donors and parent prospects.
The Associate Director will cultivate, solicit, and steward gifts, strengthen the Parents Council, and build a pipeline of future major-gift donors in support of the College's priorities as it enters its second century. The role works closely with Annual Giving, Major Gifts, Alumni Relations, and campus partners across the College.
Essential Duties Summary
Essential Responsibilities
Leadership Giving and Portfolio Management
- Manage a portfolio of leadership-level donors and prospects, emphasizing annual commitments of $1,000 or more and opportunities to increase support.
- Develop and execute individualized qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategies; conduct regular in-person and virtual donor meetings.
- Solicit and close leadership-level and multiyear pledges, including five- and six-figure commitments, in partnership with Major Gifts colleagues.
- Establish annual revenue and activity goals with the Associate Vice President for Philanthropy and track progress toward them.
- Identify prospects ready for larger commitments and coordinate transitions to Major Gifts colleagues.
- Coordinate leadership-level solicitations with the Annual Giving team, including donor communications and appeals aimed at leadership donors.
- Strengthen retention, reactivation, and acquisition of leadership donors, including Westlands Society members; plan Westlands Society events and produce the Impact newsletter.
- Maintain timely, accurate donor records, strategies, and proposals in Blackbaud
Parent Giving and Parents Council
- Develop and implement a comprehensive parent giving strategy for current parents and families.
- Build relationships with parents capable of making meaningful annual and major gifts; tailor solicitations to their interests and institutional priorities.
- Serve as the primary Advancement liaison to the Parents Council, coordinating meetings, communications, engagement, and philanthropic participation.
- Partner with College leadership to recruit and retain Council members and strengthen volunteer leadership.
- Collaborate with campus colleagues to create meaningful opportunities for parent engagement.
Stewardship, Events, and Donor Preparation
- Plan and manage annual parent and leadership stewardship events (approximately 4–6 per year), including regional Summer Send-Offs in collaboration with the Dean's office.
- Develop briefing materials, including talking points and donor profiles, to prepare the President and Advancement leadership for events and individual donor meetings.
- Attend donor cultivation events, regional gatherings, parent programs, and other Advancement activities.
Required Qualifications
Required
- Bachelor's degree and at least five to seven years of relevant fundraising or donor-relations experience.
- Demonstrated success personally cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding individual donors.
- Ability to independently manage a donor portfolio and deliver against measurable fundraising goals.
- Excellent relationship-building, writing, communication, organizational, and collaborative skills.
- Experience with donor databases or CRM systems; ability and willingness to travel.
Preferred Qualifications
Preferred
- Higher education or secondary school advancement experience, especially parent philanthropy or leadership annual giving.
- Experience working with volunteer councils or advisory groups.
- Familiarity with Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT or a comparable platform, and with an online giving and events platform such as GiveCampus.
- Comfort using data and reporting tools to analyze giving trends and inform donor strategy.
Posting Number: S00479P
Open Date:
Close Date:
Open Until Filled: No
Salary: $90,000 - $95,000
Special Instructions to Applicants
To apply, visit https://apptrkr.com/9926431"">https://slc.peopleadmin.com/postings/2630
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Sarah Lawrence College is committed to sustaining a diverse and inclusive learning, working, and living community. This requires students, faculty, administration, and staff who reflect the diversity of our society; that people from different backgrounds and with different views be prepared to treat one another with mutual respect and honest curiosity so that they can engage and learn from one another; and that diversity infuse all aspects of the life and mission of the College. These conditions enable a genuine liberal arts education, in which the presence of people with different experiences and ideas, engaged in critical dialogue, overcomes ignorance and builds trust and knowledge.
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